Caring Sister
by CrazyLikeArt
Summary: "She's my baby sister and I'll protect her and take care of her and be there for her, always. I promise." AU, Elsa is much older when her sister Anna is born.


Do you know that artist that draws adorable pictures of Elsa and Anna with a huge age gap between them? Well, here is a fic.  
>Brush your teeth when you're done. And don't expect too much in terms of plot, I really just want to have something cute to cuddle with.<br>And to the poor souls who are still waiting an update for my NF fics... I'll get back to them. I just have to stop hating what I re-read of what I wrote.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: New princess.<strong>

* * *

><p>Elsa winced as a loud scream of pain reverberated in the hall. She was sitting on a couch next to the door leading into the room the scream came from, wringing her hands in anxiety. In front of her, her father was displaying the same restlessness by pacing back and forth and sending a glance to the door every time he turned around to retrace his steps.<p>

"How much longer do you think it'll be?" she asked trying desperately to distract herself.

Her father paused in his nervous pacing and ran a hand through his hair, he gave her only a brief look before his eyes returned to staring at the door. "It's been four hours already," he unnecessarily said, as if Elsa herself hadn't been there from the start like him. "It shouldn't be much longer. Another hour at most, if it's anything like it was with you. But it might take several hours more, it's never a sure thing…"

Another scream made the blonde girl close her eyes and gulp as she gripped the couch she was sitting on. This whole experience was quickly becoming the most scary she had ever gone through, and the thought that the end might still be nowhere near in sight was terrifying. Every minute she had to wait, she couldn't help thinking something was going to go wrong.

"Elsa, calm down." Her father's voice reached her ears, making her look up and meet his gaze which was now on her . His eyes went to her hands for a moment and, following his line of sight, she saw that ice was spreading from where she was holding onto the couch in a death grip.

Elsa growled in frustration at her lapse of control and released her hold on the settee. She took a deep breath before waving her hand and dispelling the ice, as well as restoring the temperature in the hall to its previous state, earning a proud smile from her father, which she timidly returned.

It usually was not too hard to keep her powers under control, she could even remember a time in her childhood when it was as natural as breathing, but as she aged the magic inside her kept growing with her and sometimes she couldn't hold it in, particularly when she was startled or in distress. Thankfully, her sporadic slips never resulted in anything worse than ruined books and broken ceramics and glassware, all of which were easily replaceable. Everything else she froze could usually survive the experience and be returned to its previous pristine condition by dispelling her magic with a simple wave of her hand. It was a lucky thing too since, even with the help of Kai and Gerda, the personal attendants and stewards of the royal family as well as the chiefs of the staff, having to replace frozen furniture would have made keeping her powers secret exceptionally difficult.

Speaking of Gerda, right at that moment the plump woman opened the door the king and the princess of Arendelle had been waiting by, allowing the blessed sounds of a new life's wailing coming from inside the room to be clearly heard. It didn't take anything more to prompt Agdar to run into the room, Elsa following him somewhat hesitantly.

Gerda bowed as she passed her and closed the door behind her after exiting the room.

In the chamber, on a king-size bed, laid the queen, looking exhausted but happy, holding a bundle of blankets wrapped around her loudly crying newborn baby. "It's a girl," she announced with bright eyes and a loving smile.

Agdar didn't waste time in sitting on the bed beside his wife and taking a closer look to his second daughter. He could already see that the few hairs she had were the same colors as his, unlike her elder sister's almost white hair which were entirely her own. Another difference from her elder sister was apparently how loud the new addition to their family could be. Granted, she was only a baby, but he didn't remember Elsa ever being so enthusiastic about informing the whole kingdom about how healthy her lungs were. Of course, he had more sense than to say so out loud, and besides, the joy of having another healthy child was eclipsing anything else at the moment.

As for Elsa, she as standing a couple of steps from the bed, petrified, eyes fixed on the smallest life and biggest miracle she had ever seen in her fifteen years of life. It was breathtaking, terrifying, amazing, unbelievable… It was her little sister. Elsa could feel herself going numb as her thoughts went into overdrive, which a tiny, detached part of her mind was grateful for since it prevented her from panicking and freezing the castle. She took a step forward.

"Hey Anna, look. That's your big sister there," Idun said softly while she was gently rocking the baby as the latter slowly calmed down and stopped crying.

Anna.

Her, or rather _their_ parents had chosen that name the month before, along with Haakon in case it had been a boy. Having a name, two possible names, for the unborn child had made the situation feel much more real back then. But now that name had a face, and Elsa couldn't believe how shocked she was at seeing it, how surreal the whole situation seemed, as if all the talks about the coming baby were a dream that suddenly turned real without previous warning.

She had a little sister. Anna.

Elsa knelt on the floor beside the bed her parents were on, resting her left arm on said bed to brace her weight as she leaned forward to take a closer look at the baby, at Anna. She was so small, she looked like a doll, and Elsa couldn't hold back her right hand from reaching out and gently running the back of a finger over the soft, smooth skin of her cheek.

"Hello Anna," she whispered quietly. "I'm Elsa."

She was so enraptured by the sight of her baby sister, she completely missed their parent's soft looks and smiles as they watched the first interaction between their two daughters. She did not miss, however, when their breaths stopped, along with her own, when a pair of unfocused teal eyes opened and started looking around curiously.

Anna did not seem to be looking at anything in particular, or maybe she was looking at everything, they couldn't really tell where the newborn's attention was. That however became a little clearer soon after, when a tiny little hand rose and closed around Elsa's finger, which had still been caressing the baby's soft cheek, and Anna turned her head toward it before latching on the fingertip with her mouth and she started sucking on it.

"Ah…" Elsa was at a loss on what to do and hearing both of her -their- parents snort at her predicament provided no assistance.

"Oh dear, don't you think this situation is ironic? Our Elsa has little Anna wrapped around her finger, but I wager that soon enough it will be the opposite, with Anna having her big sister wrapped around her little finger," Idun said tiredly chuckling at her own joke.

Elsa glanced at her father, who subtly rolled his eyes at his wife's antics, although he wasn't subtle enough judging by the latter's huff and subsequent pout direct at both him and their elder daughter.

"I hope you'll get my sense of humor little one," the queen said looking down at the baby in her arms. "Heaven forbid I have to deal with another genteel prig in this family." Her remark earned her a squeal of indignation from her husband, which just made her roll her own eyes in turn.

The blonde princess, however, was too busy trying to get back her finger from her baby sister's unrelenting hold to pay attention to their parent's playful banter. When the king turned to her for support, as his firstborn and him were of remarkably similar disposition, he noticed her fruitless efforts to free herself.

"What's the problem, Elsa?" her father asked, his eyes now dancing with humor. "Is our little Anna too strong for you that you cannot escape her fearsome grasp?" he asked while stealing a glance at Idun, obviously making an effort to show his wife how he could also be funny if he put his mind to it.

"Help me?" Elsa pleadingly asked, looking up from her trapped finger. "I don't want to pull too strongly, her hand is so small… I'm afraid I'll hurt her."

The blonde's admission brought a new smile to the queen's face and she rose a hand to rest it upon her eldest daughter cheek in a loving caress. "You'll be a wonderful sister, Elsa," she spoke with absolute certainty and watery eyes, which made the young girl blush brightly and avert her eyes mumbling something that might have been along the lines of how she'd try her best.

Both parents exchanged a look before the Agdar took pity on his eldest and gently pried Anna's fingers open, giving Elsa back her finger but also causing the little one to pout and make unhappy sounds. He quickly remedied the situation by taking her in his arms, rocking her in them for the first time as he moved to the crib beside the bed which had been prepared for her. Idun just watched him, letting out a content but also tired sigh as she closed her eyes. She would have liked to hold her newborn a little more, possibly till the end of time, but sleeping seemed like a very good option too.

"Will you be alright?" Elsa asked her mother taking hold of her hand.

"Yes," she answered squeezing her daughter's hand back without opening her eyes. "I just need to rest for a little while."

"I'll tell Gerda to come and keep an eye on both of you as you rest," Agdar said coming back from tucking Anna in. He bent down to lovingly kiss his wife's forehead before he straightened up and rested an hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Come Elsa, we have a joyous announcement to make while your mother and sister get their well-deserved rest."

The blonde nodded and, after one last goodbye to her mother and a look toward her sister, she followed her father out. She stood beside him as he instructed Gerda and an handful of other servants to take care of Idun and Anna until he came back, then walked with him as he was making his way to inform his council and to write an official announcement to give the happy news to the kingdom at large.

Throughout all that, however, she remained somewhat dazed and distracted. Blue eyes went to a pale hand as the latter clenched and unclenched, the memory of that incredibly small hand's unrelenting grasp was something the elder princess just could not get over, it was breathtaking. She was glad Anna had not seemed to notice any unpleasant coldness about her hand judging by her unwillingness to let her finger go, and that she had managed to hold back her magic throughout the whole ordeal.

"Do you think she'll have powers like me?" Elsa's thoughts came out of her lips before she could really think them through.

Agdar, after a quick glance around the corridor to ensure they were alone, turned back to her to answer, "It's too early to say. I mean, it's a possibility, but if she has they shouldn't be noticeable until she's at least one year old. You gave your mother and I quite the scare when you froze over your cake when blowing on your candle." He chuckled at the memory. His elder daughter was a beautiful young woman now, but she had been so adorable when she was that small, and to think he had another baby girl to coddle now…

"I hope they won't give her the same problems as me, if she has any," Elsa said with a slight frown.

It had happened five years before, when she was ten, her powers had had a sudden violent growth spurt, going haywire for a while. Luckily, there were no major incidents, but hiding them had been especially difficult when the temperature in the room she was in kept dropping dramatically without her realizing it, or when she accidentally froze whatever she touched. It had been frustrating for Elsa, but eventually, even as her powers kept gradually growing, she managed to get a hang on how to prevent such messes or, when she couldn't do that, to thaw the ice and snow trailing after her.

"Don't worry about that now, Elsa," the king said gently. "Besides, if that comes to pass, she'll have you to help her," he added with a proud smile.

"Yes. Yes, she will," she responded meeting his eyes with determination shining in hers. "I'll help her, and not just in case she has powers or not, but with anything and everything. She's my baby sister and I'll protect her and take care of her and be there for her, always. I promise."

As soon as she pronounced those words, Elsa was engulfed in a hug by her father.

"I know you will," he said in a voice broken by emotion before he let her go. "Let's go now, I want to get back to your mother and sister as soon as we can."

Once again, Elsa simply nodded and followed him, sharing his sentiments.

As they had predicted, in the next few days the announcement about Anna's birth was met with much rejoicing in the whole kingdom as the news travelled far and fast. Their subjects didn't hesitate to take advantage of the occasion to have fun by starting a fair and throwing parties to celebrate their newborn princess. Arendelle's capital became an amalgam of music, games, food and colorful banners.

The celebrated princess herself and the royal family, however, remained in the castle, busy with running the kingdom and taking care of their most recent addition. The queen in particular had been looking more and more tired as lack of sleep was taking its toll on her, since Anna loudly required her presence at all times of day and night. The king, while sharing his wife's erratic and interrupted sleep at night, managed to catch some sleep during the day when he was supposedly working in his office. On the other hand, Elsa wasn't even roused by her sister's nocturne calls since her room was farther down the hall and distant enough that she didn't hear her.

That was why, almost a week after Anna's birth, Elsa and Agdar had decided to take a break from their duty and studying respectively, to spend some time with the queen and the baby in an attempt to help.

When they went into the room, it was actually one of the rare times when Anna was sleeping peacefully. Agdar quietly dismissed the maid who was looking after the queen and princess, careful not to make loud noises and disturb his baby girl's sleep, and Elsa moved to sit on a chair beside the couch her mother was occupying just as silently.

"Hey sweetie, how is your studying coming along?" Idun asked smiling tiredly at her.

"It is going well," she answered folding her hands on her lap. "I've been going over past report about floods in the eastern region, how they affected not only the farm production but also commerce since most roads became impracticable."

"It sounds… intere-e-esting," the elder woman said yawning while she was saying the last word.

Agdar, who in the meantime had sat down at his wife's side and taken her hand into his, chuckled at her. "Ah, the end-of-summer floods. You better commit those reports to memory because I can guarantee you'll have to deal with the same thing every year."

Elsa hummed her acquiescence but frowned at those words. "That's a real shame, though, with all the money we lose because of both the damages and the constant repairs, we could have built a new embankment in five years at most."

"An embankment?" the king repeated looking at his heiress with a look that was both surprised and calculative. "Yes… Yes, that's a splendid idea!"

"Huh?" the blonde tilted her head with a confused expression.

"Of course! At first the floods happened only rarely, when I was your age I had seen them happen only twice," the king continued. "But now that they're happening every year, building an embankment is the less costly solution after all. We have enough money in the royal coffers, and as you said it'll repay itself in five years at most, and every year after that it will mean increased incomes. Besides this will definitely help the farmers, traders and all the villages of the region!"

"And neither you, nor your gathering of decrepit old relics you call advisors, thought of it before?" Idun asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well…" he said running a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture Elsa recognized as something she herself inherited from him. "As I said they didn't use to be so common and I suppose we are just used to simply patch everything up afterwards. Maybe we do need a fresh perspective on some matters…" he trailed off looking at his blonde daughter speculatively. "You should start regularly coming to our meetings, Elsa. As I said, we could use a new perspective, besides it'll prepare you for the fut-"

Agdar's words were cut off by a shrill cry raising from the crib, announcing Arendelle's second princess awakening from her nap, shortly followed by the queen's groan.

"I've fed her less than five minutes ago, she can't be hungry. Maybe she needs changing," she said in an exhausted voice.

While it was true that she had many maids at her back and call and could have had a wet nurse take care of feeding her baby, Idun wanted to take care of her children herself. She had taken care of Elsa when she had been a baby and she was determined to take care of Anna now. She firmly believed it helped in making them closer as family.

"I'll see to it," Agdar said standing up.

"Thanks dear. Show Elsa how it's done, she might need to learn that too, for her future," the queen said in a teasing voice.

"What? I don't… that's…" the blonde sputtered as her usually pale face rapidly gained color and turned redder and redder, until she finally gave up and quickly followed her father to the crib, her mother's laughter making her pout indignantly.

As it turned out, however, Anna did not need to be changed. An attempt to feed her was met with a predictable refusal. Both of their parents held her for a while, trying to calm her down by rocking her with no success. Elsa was holding her at the moment, walking back and forth along the room and rocking her, but her attempt was meeting similar unsatisfactory results.

"Try humming a song, sometimes it works," Idun suggested rubbing her forehead.

"I did that already, but she's just not calming down," Elsa answered, starting to feel somewhat worried about her baby sister. "Are you sure she isn't sick?"

"She doesn't have a fever or anything. It's more likely she is just bored and wanting attention, try to entertain her," Agdar responded, waving a toy over Anna, who however ignored him and continued her wailing.

"She's ignoring her toys and she doesn't want a lullaby, I don't know what else I could do," the blonde said frustrated by how useless she was starting to feel. "I have snow magic," she said waving a hand and letting some snowflakes appear in a feeble white-blue light to demonstrate her point, "not the power to make miracles!"

Her words were met with silence. Too much silence.

Three pairs of eyes went to the wide teal ones of a awestruck baby who had suddenly stopped crying. There was a pause of a few seconds before Anna's face scrunched up and let out a small whine as if she was about to start crying again.

"Elsa," Idun started, but she didn't need to.

Before her mother could even finish to say her name, Elsa had already raised her hand and called on her magic, making a sparkle of white and light blue light appear, soon followed by a few snowflakes she directed to hover above her baby sister, who watched the light show enraptured and let out the most adorable cooing sound. It melted her big sister's heart, in fact, Elsa suddenly noticed that, for the first time in her life, she actually had to concentrate a bit to keep her magic up. She made a mental note of the strange phenomenon but decided she couldn't think about it when Anna was squealing in delight and reaching out with her hand as if trying to catch the pretty light above her.

"So, apparently you can make miracles," Idun said in between amusement and disbelief.

Her blonde daughter nodded numbly without looking up from Anna's expression of joy, a loving smile pulling at her lips as she kept entertaining her by moving her snowflakes in random patterns.

"Well, since we now know you can keep Anna from crying and make her happy, I'll leave her to you for a while. I really need to catch up on some sleep," the queen declared standing up and moving to the door.

"Wait, what?" Elsa said looking up from the armful of squealing baby she was carrying.

"I'm going to keep company to your mother," Agdar said walking after her. Seeing his daughter's panicking expression, however, he took pity on her and offered her some reprieve with his parting words. "I'm going to tell Gerda to come, she can help you if you need anything and you will still be able to do that since she knows," he said nodding toward her magic show.

When he closed the door behind him, Elsa sat down on a couch and adjusted her hold on her squirming little sister, who had still been reaching out with her impossibly cute, tiny hands toward the hovering snowflakes and the movement made it possible for her to grab one. For a moment Elsa was afraid the cold would upset Anna and make her start crying again but to her surprise her baby sister giggled happily.

The blonde couldn't help herself and leaned down to lay a gentle, light kiss on her forehead.

"So you like snow, don't you Anna?" she whispered. "I'm glad. When you grow up a bit, we're going to play in it, we can slide down a snow hill, throw snowballs or even build a snowman. Big sister's promise." She finished with a very lightly tap on Anna's nose with her fingertip.

She should have foreseen it when Anna grabbed it in her small hand and brought it to her mouth to start sucking on it. They remained like that until Gerda arrived to rescue her but not before she got a good laugh at her.

* * *

><p>I haven't written in a long time, so feedback is appreciated. Is there too much description, enough narration, needs more dialogues? Let me know.<p> 


End file.
